When, after the death of king John VI of Portugal, his usurper son Miguel of Portugal seized power from the rightful heir, his niece Maria II, and proclaimed himself 'Absolute King', Madeira held out for the Queen under the governor José Travassos Valdez until Miguel sent an expeditionary force and the defence of the island was overwhelmed by crushing force. Madeiran immigrants in North America mostly clustered in the New England and mid-Atlantic states, Toronto, Northern California, and Hawaii. It is the largest island of the group with an area of 741km 2 (286sqmi), a length of 57km (35mi) (from Ponte de São Lourenço to Ponta do Pargo), while approximately 22km (14mi) at its widest point (from Ponta da Cruz to Ponta de São Jorge), with a coastline of 150km (90mi). The most known environment of the archipelago is its Laurel forest ( laurisilva) which still extends over 15,000 hectares or 20% of the archipelago. Barbary corsairs from North Africa, who enslaved Europeans from ships and coastal communities throughout the Mediterranean region, captured 1,200 people in Porto Santo in 1617.

File:Flag of Madeira.svg - Wikimedia Commons

There are several large Madeiran communities around the world, such as the number in the UK, including Jersey, [103] the Portuguese British community mostly made up of Madeirans celebrate Madeira Day. Madeira is also an Outermost Region (OMR) of the European Union, meaning that due to its geographical situation, it is entitled to derogation from some EU policies despite being part of the European Union. If the file has been modified from its original state, some details such as the timestamp may not fully reflect those of the original file.Among the companies founded by Portuguese Madeirans in Venezuela are Central Madeirense, Excelsior Gama, Supermercados Unicasa and Automercados Plaza. Daily life is concentrated in the many villages at the mouths of the ravines, through which the heavy rains of autumn and winter usually travel to the sea. Madeira is described in several medieval manuscripts, including the Book of Knowledge of All Kingdoms from the early 14th century, the Medici-Laurentian Atlas from 1351, in Soleri Portolani from 1380 and 1385 and Corbitis Atlas from the late 14th century.

Madeira - Wikipedia

After the Peace of Amiens, British troops withdrew in 1802, only to reoccupy Madeira in 1807 until the end of the Peninsular War in 1814. There is a romantic tale about two lovers, Robert Machim and Anna d'Arfet in time of the King Edward III of England, fleeing from England to France in 1346, were driven off their course by a violent storm, and cast on the coast of Madeira at the place subsequently named Machico, in memory of one of them. This submarine structure consists of long geomorphological relief that extends from the abyssal plain to 3,500m (11,500ft); its highest submersed point is at a depth of about 150m (490ft) (around latitude 36°N). Madeira wine was perhaps the most popular luxury beverage in the colonial Western Hemisphere during the 17th and 18th centuries.The British first amicably occupied the island in 1801 whereafter Colonel William Henry Clinton became governor.